Kevin's Halloween
by Caesar Augustus Plutarch
Summary: Written in response to a PPMB challenge Kevin gets some encouragement from Jamie. Set on Halloween during Kevin's second senior year in high school


Kevin's Halloween  
by CAP

"A scarecrow," Debbie White squealed tugging on her brother's hand.

Jamie White smiled. His little sister loved Halloween almost as much as Christmas. She spent weeks agonizing over what costume to wear before settling on a butterfly outfit their sister Jillian found online for her. She begged their mother to make it for her and hovered like the Blue Morpho she would pretend to be over her as she sewed.

As they approached the house, the scarecrow's eyes abruptly popped open. "Boo!"

Debbie laughed again.

"Hey, Kevin," Jamie said.

Hey, Dude," Kevin replied pushing back the battered felt hat on his head. "This your youngest sister?"

"Yep," Jamie answered. "Her name's Deborah."

"It's Debbie," the girl corrected quickly.

Hey, Debbie, nice to meet you," Kevin said. "That's the best costume I've seen all night. Way the best."

"Thank you," Debbie gushed reaching into the bowl of candy that Kevin extended to her.

"Having fun?" asked Jamie.

"Yeah," Kevin replied brightly. "I've always liked Halloween, ya know."

Kevin's broad smile quickly vanished however. He opened his mouth to speak but whatever he was going to say, he changed his mind. Jamie waited patiently watching several emotions cross the former QB's open guileless face.

"We've been friends along time, right, Jamie?" Kevin asked slowly. "I mean, you'd tell me the truth, right?"

"Sure," Jamie answered uncertain as to where Kevin was taking the conversation.

"Well, see, a lotta of people from school have been by tonight," Kevin began. "Like you, walking with their younger brothers and sisters, ya know."

"Okay," Jamie replied.

"Well, a lotta of them have walked away laughing," Kevin said. "I know they're laughing at me. Why? I don't get it. What's the joke?"

Kevin noticed Jamie's look of hesitation. "You can go ahead and tell me, Dude. It's not like I don't know people been laughing at me all year. I know why I'm a joke at school. I just don't get what's funny here."

"It's the scarecrow costume," Jamie told him.

"Huh?"

"The Wizard of Oz," said Jamie reluctant to spell it out for him.

Groaning loudly, Kevin raised a hand to his face. "If I only had a brain," he quoted. "Aw, man, I walked right into that one."

"Hey, Kevin, there's a lot of us who admire you," Jamie said quickly.

"What's to admire?" Kevin asked bitterly. "As soon as we lost in the state playoffs, I was dumped in the trash. No more byes. Nuthin' but F's from then on. A whole lotta of people were happy to see that. Happy, hell, they were dancing. Like it was payback time or something."

"Yeah but you still came back this year," Jamie pointed out. "That had to take some balls."

Kevin shrugged. "What else could I do?"

"Quit. Join the army. Get a job. Throw yourself in front of a bus," Jamie said.

Kevin chuckled. "I guess I could have but I dunno. Maybe I just, I dunno. I guess I never really thought about doing anything else."

"How are your grades?" Jamie asked.

Kevin exhaled loudly. "Mostly 'C's' with a 'B' here and there. Math is kicking my butt but I'm staying afloat but man, all I do is study."

"If that's what it takes," said Jamie.

"Yeah," Kevin agreed grudgingly. "Do you think..."

Jamie waited but Kevin did not continue. "Do I think what?" he finally asked.

"Nuthin'" Kevin said.

"C'mon, dude," Jamie said.

"Do you think that any college would be interested in me even after all of this?" Kevin asked bashfully. "I'd love a chance to play college football even if it meant living in the library when I wasn't on the field. I'd turn myself into a brain for that chance."

"Dude, you were second team all-state last year. Get your diploma and a good score on the SAT and schools'll be falling over themselves offering scholarships," Jamie replied sincerely.

Kevin stared at him for several seconds before slowly nodding. A small smile came to his mouth. "Thanks, man. Well, you better get going. There's plenty of candy that Debbie hasn't gotten to yet."

"Yeah, okay," Jamie said. "See ya in school tomorrow."

"I'll be there," Kevin replied firmly.


End file.
